Tom Cruise, Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas to Receive Honorary Oscars

Tom Cruise, Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas will receive honorary Academy Awards at the 2025 Governors Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.

Cruise, Allen and Thomas will be given Academy Honorary Awards, while Parton will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The awards were voted on by the Academy’s Board of Directors, which chooses up to four Governors Award recipients each year. In a statement announcing this year’s choices, Academy President Janet Yang said, “Debbie Allen is a trailblazing choreographer and actor, whose work has captivated generations and crossed genres. Tom Cruise’s incredible commitment to our filmmaking community, to the theatrical experience, and to the stunts community has inspired us all. Beloved performer Dolly Parton exemplifies the spirit of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award through her unwavering dedication to charitable efforts. And production designer Wynn Thomas has brought some of the most enduring films to life through a visionary eye and mastery of his craft.”

Allen is a choreographer, actress, director and producer whose films include “The Six Triple Eight,” “Fame,” “Ragtime” and “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling.” She also choreographed dance routines on the Academy Awards 10 times, mostly in the 1990s for producer Gil Cates.

Cruise is one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, but he’s only been nominated for three acting Oscars, none of them in the last 24 years. He was nominated for Best Actor for “Born on the Fourth of July” in 1990 and “Jerry Maguire” in 1997 and for Best Supporting Actor for “Magnolia” in 2000. In recent years, he has focused on action films like the “Mission: Impossible” series. He was nominated for Best Picture as one of the producers of 2023 nominee “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Parton is a country music icon whose work in film includes “9 to 5,” “Steel Magnolias” and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Her philanthropic work includes the Dollywood Foundation and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, aimed at helping to educate the children in East Tennessee.

Thomas is a production designer whose films include “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” “A Beautiful Mind” and “Hidden Figures.” He is also a longtime governor of the Academy, though he is not currently on the board. (Sitting board members are ineligible for Governors Awards.) Thomas is only the second production designer or art director to receive the award, after Robert F. Boyle in 2007.

Honorary recipients are chosen every year at the last meeting of the current Board of Governors. A new board (largely but not completely consisting of existing members) will be announced shortly.  

The 16th annual Governors Awards will take place on Nov. 16 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood.

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